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Walmart said
customers at several stores in Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania
had their balances on holiday layaway accounts paid off by
anonymous donors.
With layaway, consumers make payments on their purchases,
usually holiday gifts, over time and get the goods when they are
paid for.
One person donated $106,000 to pay off accounts at two stores in
northeast Ohio. Another gave $200,000 for layaway tabs at two
stores in Gainesville, Florida, and a local Pennsylvania
businessman who calls himself "Santa B" paid off $158,000 at
stores in Harrisburg and Mechanicsburg, Wyatt Jefferies, a
spokesman for Wal-Mart Stores Inc, said.
Smaller payments totaling several thousand dollars also have
been received, he added.
Jefferies said the company contacts customers by telephone if
their accounts have been paid off. Sometimes they, in turn,
donate to other layaway tabs, he said.
"We're proud to be a small part of these random acts of
kindness," the company said in a statement.
(Reporting by Kim Palmer; Editing by David Bailey and Cynthia
Osterman)
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